Every once in a while, an athlete comes along who frankly scares the shit out of you. The type of athlete that makes you feel lucky to just be a spectator, watching from the sidelines. In the spirit of Halloween, here are some of the scariest people in the sports world.
Mike Tyson
No list would be complete without Iron Mike himself. As an amateur, Tyson once knocked out an opponent in just eight seconds. Once he became a professional, Tyson won his first 19 fights with knockouts — 12 of those were in the first round. However, his most terrifying moment came in 1997, when he literally bit a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight. He also said once after a match that he would rip Lennox Lewis’ heart out and eat his children. If that doesn’t scream unstable, I don’t know what does.
Mike Ricci
Ricci is on this list not because of what he did, because he had a pretty solid NHL career. He played for 17 seasons and over 1,000 games, and even won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. No, he’s on here because of how he looks. I mean, just look up a picture of him. The combination of busted up nose, greasy long hair, and no front teeth makes him look like the human equivalent of a goblin. I wouldn’t be surprised if his post-hockey career was as a banker at Gringotts.
Gilbert Arenas
You do not want to be in a locker room with this dude. On Christmas Eve 2009, Arenas was caught with unloaded firearms in the Washington Wizards locker room. It was later revealed that this was a result of an argument he was having with teammate Javaris Crittenton over some gambling debts. He was promptly suspended for the rest of the season, but not before making fun of the whole situation by pretending to shoot his teammates in a pregame introduction. He’s also admitted to running 60 red lights in a four-month period by using dealership plates, so maybe you don’t want to be in a car with him either.
Scott Stevens
Probably the most-feared hitter in NHL history, Stevens made a career from bone-crushing open ice hits. At 6’2” and just over 200 pounds, he wasn’t the biggest defenceman, but he could body check like nobody’s business. Ask Paul Kariya, who was the recipient of a hit during the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals that knocked him out cold. But perhaps his most well-known hit was delivered on Eric Lindros in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals, a hit so vicious that it effectively ended Lindros’ career.
